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Buddhism in East Asia

Many people will choose Confucianism as the most important factor in understating East Asian culture. Confucianism, indeed, is crucial in understanding the culture. However, one should not overlook the influence of Buddhism on Confucianism and many areas of East Asian culture. Buddhism, one of the world’s oldest religions and a philosophy, is shared by East Asian countries, thus in order to fully appreciate the East Asian culture, one should learn about Buddhism and its significant influence on the culture. This paper will discuss Buddhism shared by East Asian culture and how the religion played an enormous role in shaping the mindset of people affecting their culture. Buddhism started approximately in the 6th century BCE, starting with the birth of the Buddha in India. The religion then spread through Central Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia (Keown). Among many branches of Buddhism, Mahayana has been diffused from first west, north, and east throughout East Asia (Skilton). The fundamental principles of Mahayana are liberation from suffering and the belief in the existence of Bodhisattva. Bodhisattva is someone who achieved Nirvana, the state of being free from both suffering and the cycle of rebirth (Keown). One can find a carved wood elongated figure of Bodhisattva Guanyin (1999.13.0003) from Spurlok Museum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL . In this wooden figure, Guanyin is barefoot with hair wrapped in knot, wears ornate robes and holds a basket with flowers (Spurlock Museum). One can also find a photo of Bronze Seated Buddha in National Museum at Kyongbok-Kung, Seoul, South Korea (1986.27.0017) in Spurlock Museum . These are an important artifact and a photo because one can easily find very similar artifacts of Guanyin or Buddha in China, Korea, and Japan. It shows one how Buddhism was shared by East Asian countries (Yü). Upon first encountering Buddhism, many Chinese scholars regarded it as merely a foreign religion. This caused Buddhism...

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Korea
Korea is one of the countries in EastAsia that has a very rich and well preserve culture and it is no wonder that their traditional wedding traditions are very colorful.
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...The four centuries covered in this chapter mark a transitory phase in the history of EastAsia. During this time, the threat of conquest from Mongol tribes dissipated. On the other hand, western European merchants and governments encroached upon the kingdoms of Japan, Korea, and China. More and more, EastAsia was connected to the broader global trading patterns that western Europeans established during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Unlike in native civilizations and kingdoms in the Americas, European encroachment in EastAsia did not result in the collapse of local political and cultural traditions. Indeed, cultural and political traditions continued to evolve along historical patterns. In 1800, East Asian societies were still remarkably cohesive despite the dramatic changes in global economic and political patterns occurring all around them.
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Activity One:
Broadly speaking, both Japan and China experienced similar political developments between 1400 and 1800. After periods of disruption, each civilization returned to...